“Convenience Stores” that aren’t very convenient

If you travel on occasion you have probably had more than one experience that went something like this:

You’re driving down the interstate and “nature” begins calling so you begin looking for a good place to stop and use the restroom, gas up, and maybe even pick up a quick snack or two to get you through the rest of your trip. A few miles down the road you spot a sign for a gas station (we used to call them “service stations”, but these days the “service” has been all but eliminated). You take the exit and pull into the gas station parking lot thinking just how wonderful it is to find a “convenience store” just when you need it most.

To save time you go ahead and gas up before heading inside, and by the time your tank is full and the pump has spit out your receipt, nature is no longer just calling – she’s absolutely screaming…so you practically run inside the store and begin looking for the restroom. You walk all the way around the place several times frantically searching for those beautiful doors with the little “Men” and “Women” symbols on them, but try as you might you can’t find them. Thinking they must be somewhere in the back, you approach the counter and politely inquire of the cashier as to the whereabouts of the facilities. He/she simply smiles and gives you that dreaded, but by now quite expected reply: “We don’t have a ‘public’ restroom”.

Let me tell you, this scenario just gets my goat. You have just spent upwards of a week’s pay to fill your tank with their gasoline and you’re prepared to spend several dollars more on their junk food, yet they cannot allow you to use their restroom? Well, at least this particular cashier didn’t outright lie and say they didn’t have a restroom at all – he/she just said they have no “public” restrooms. The ones that lie to your face and tell you they have no restroom at all are the worst of the worst in my book. After all, it’s a rare individual indeed who can go an entire shift without answering nature’s call at least once himself so you know there is surely a restroom lurking somewhere in virtually every convenience store.

Of course there are reasons why some store managers choose to keep the restrooms off-limits to customers, and they are indeed somewhat valid. Customers will often trash the place by leaving toilet paper and paper towels (and worse) all over the floor. They’ll leave the water running in the sink or cause the toilet to overflow. And yes, they’ll even use the restroom as the perfect hiding place for concealing the items they plan to steal. But in my humble opinion…

All of those reasons together don’t outweigh the fact that most customers won’t make a mess, leave the water running, cause the toilet to overflow or steal you blind. Most customers are good people who are worthy of at least a basic level of trust and respect. They deserve an opportunity to use your restroom in exchange for giving you their business and their hard-earned money.

But, Mr. Convenience Store Manager, if you do decide to deny them that privilege, at least have the courtesy to place a sign on your entrance door stating “No Public Restrooms”. At least that way they can take their business to a merchant who actually appreciates it without wasting their time and money in yours.